A series of tiny lights began to blink on and off, indicating the calipers had found, and were secured onto, the targeted gel-tabs. Now came the tricky part. Gently, Tow pulled up on the calipers. At the slightest resistance, he would need to stop. Either that, or risk damaging the living gel-tab’s ultra-thin surrounding membrane. Feeling another series of racking coughs coming on, he steadied his hand, keeping the pressure of his fingers constant and consistent, while attempting also to clear his throat. But the coughs came on anyway. Tow’s eyes filled with moisture and his chest burned as the hacking episode relentlessly persisted. All the while, he watched the set of tiny caliper indicator lights that continued to remain lit.
Tow’s fit of coughing finally relented and he found he could breathe more easily again. Slowly, he continued raising his hand up until the prongs of the clippers came back into view, along with what they now held. Tow stared at the three glowing, bright blue, odd-shaped gel-taps. Not wanting to chance another coughing fit coming on, he quickly repositioned the calipers above the new AI orb unit. Then, lowering his hand, he felt the caliper device gently guiding his fingers to where the device needed to go. The same series of lights were blinking on and off in a new pattern now—confirmation the gel-tabs were seated properly. Tow removed the calipers, then returned them to the open slot on the tool board. After closing the access panel, he flipped the new AI orb over, and waited. Nothing happened.
Tow’s mind suddenly became flooded with new imagery. He saw the interior of the Howsh ship but didn’t understand what he was viewing. Not at first. There were numerous swaying forms—hung from somewhere high above. Humans. Both Cuddy and Jackie were among the prisoners.
So captivated by the horrific visions he was witnessing, Tow didn’t at first notice that the AI orb had reinitialized and was hovering six feet off the deck. The orb said, “I shall return now… to assist Cuddy Perkins.”
Tow said, “Welcome back, orb!” The orb hovered silently nearby.
“How many Howsh are on board the Howsh vessel?” Tow asked.
“Only one. Captain Holg.”
After three years of relentless pursuit across the cosmos, Tow felt like he personally knew Holg. There’d been a few brief communications. Holg, offering Tow his life in exchange for destruction of the heritage pod, would be satisfied knowing Tow would die alone in space—his race of people eviscerated for all eternity.
Over time, Tow spent many hours doing in-depth research on his adversary, looking for areas of weakness. Perhaps some psychotic malady that would give Tow an upper hand. But he never found one. Holg was a warrior, through and through. Even among his own kind, he was considered ruthless. Ruthless and unyielding, he never ceased his aggression. Giving up was as foreign a concept to Holg as committing violence was to Tow.
Focusing his attention again on the AI orb, he wondered if that lone, small drone-like device could actually make a difference. Planet Earth was in the midst of something heinous. Those other two Howsh ships were repeating the same systematic, city-by-city annihilation they’d committed on Mahli. It needed to stop. They’d already won.
“I will go with you, orb. It’s time I personally speak with Captain Holg.”
As Tow descended the gangway, he spotted his favorite walking stick, lying nearby on the ground. As he’d done so many times before, he attempted, using his mind, to retrieve it, but soon found he was far too weak to elevate it off the ground. Instead, he walked the short distance, bent over, and picked it up one-handed. Then, after walking around for a while, he turned back and faced the Evermore, wondering if he would ever see his ship again. He pictured the heritage pod, entombed within the lower deck, and thought of Soweng. His heart ached. I’m so very sorry, my love.
He was weaker now and walking was difficult. As Tow and the orb moved farther into the trees, he queried the AI orb about any recently transpired events that he was unaware of. Then Tow said, “You can hurry ahead, orb. I will catch up.”
Chapter 29
His face hurt where Holg, the Howsh with the red sash, clawed him. When a loud tone blared out somewhere above them the alien rushed off.
Now, with so much time to think—and little else to do—Cuddy wondered how the Howsh accomplished the arduous task of chaining up, feet first, all the prisoners. But he soon realized two large robots were also moving about. They didn’t look anything like the AI orb on the Evermore. These robots were similar in size and girth to the Howsh themselves. Peculiar looking, they also were covered with fur—similar to that on the Howsh.
Cuddy watched the two robots silently work together, removing one of the dead bodies from the compartment. That was a good thing—the smell had gone way beyond toxic. Efficient in their movements, one robot raised itself high off the deck. Reaching out with a clawed mechanical arm, it opened a clasp attached to the chain above. The lifeless body of a large woman dropped to the deck, making an awful-sounding thud. Effortlessly, the second robot lifted her up off the deck and carried her from the compartment. The first robot then turned its attention on the next corpse—again, lifting itself up high in order to release the clasp. Another body, an old man this time, dropped below with a loud thud. It too was carted off.
The two robots next moved toward Sheriff Bone’s hanging body. As one robot began to rise, the sheriff yelled, “Get away from me! I’m not dead yet! Get away!”
Cuddy knew that the sheriff was still alive, seeing him every so often twitch or move. But he understood how the robots could make that mistake. The older man, black and blue everywhere, looked to be in pretty bad shape. He had been terribly beaten.
Cuddy estimated it took the robots about ten minutes before the compartment was completely cleared, free of dead bodies. They left then, not returning. His eyes nervously glanced toward the entrance. Though trying hard not to think about it, he found it nearly impossible not to, praying he wouldn’t see the robots again—carrying in Momma. Prayed they wouldn’t find her back in the house and grab her, then return and hang her up as they had all the others.
Cuddy by now had become fairly proficient at moving his hips—pivoting his body around either left or right—so he could see the others. They all seemed to be asleep. He stared at Jackie for a while. Her long straw-colored hair hung down, swaying back and forth like she was underwater, moved by invisible currents.
Reluctantly, he turned his thoughts back to the strange incident that occurred at the house. When somehow he’d made that alien’s hand… vaporize, using only the sheer force of his mind. Suddenly it went… Poof! For sure, the AI orb assisted him in some way. Could he now, mentally, do a similar thing on his own? The same way Tow so easily could? His sessions in the wellness chamber, he knew, did more than just fix his brain.
Off and on, Cuddy tried to manipulate things in his surroundings. Currently, he was attempting to make a distant and stationary hanging chain move about. But nothing seemed to be happening. What did the orb say to him? Use your mind… your will to prevail. Well… wasn’t that exactly what he was struggling to do? Cuddy thought about that for a while. Perhaps, it wasn’t so much what he was attempting to do, but how he felt while doing it. The orb’s presence in his head at that time had made him feel safe. Safe and confident. He certainly didn’t feel that way now. How could he, hanging upside down, along with Kyle and Jackie, when they all were in so much danger?